I Promised
by Nine of Hearts
Summary: Blaine joins the army, but goes missing in action. They send his tags back to Kurt, but they never find the body. There's still a small funeral for him. But a year and a half later an unexpected visitor knocks on Kurt's door. "I promised you. I came home."
1. Homecoming

**Gifset/ prompt found here:** gleeddicted. tumblr post/48141457212/klaine-au-blaine-joins-the-army-but-goes

This part was originally posted in Collection of Fics, but I have since expanded on, hence the move.

* * *

When the taxi pulled up in front of the apartment building, Blaine jumped out, hitching his dufflebag over his shoulder, and quickly tipped the cab driver before scooping up the bouquet of flowers he had bought for Kurt. They hadn't seen each other in over two and a half years. First because he was serving overseas, but then because he had gone missing in action, presumed dead. A year and a half since, and he had finally made his way home. To Kurt. Assuming Kurt hadn't moved out of Bushwick or gotten a new boyfriend.

_Oh god. What if he had moved on?_ Blaine took a deep breath and stepped towards the door. If Kurt had moved out, Blaine would give him or Burt a call. And if he had moved on… well. Blaine would accept it and try to be happy that Kurt was happy. It wasn't either of their faults that the army had decided to declare him dead without the body.

Someone hurried out of the building, allowing Blaine to go inside without hitting the buzzer.

When he reached the fourth floor and _his _apartment - _their _apartment ever since Rachel and Santana had moved out - he set down his bag. This was it.

* * *

Kurt was sitting on the couch, attempting to draw some sketches, when he heard a knock on the door. He sighed, and slowly stood up. It was probably someone who had gotten the wrong door. He didn't really like inviting people over any more. If he wanted to hangout with people, he would go meet up with them. Rachel and Santana both had nicer places in nicer neighborhoods now anyways. When they had moved out, they had both encouraged him to join one of them. He had the money, but he just wasn't quite ready to leave behind the place where he and Blaine had lived. It did however mean that every time there was a knock on the door, a little thrill of hope went through him that it was Blaine.

Of course it never was.

Even if that knock _did_ sound exactly like Blaine's. Kurt reached the door and stood their silently for a moment, quelling the hope that had surged through his heart. There was no way it was Blaine. There had been a funeral. He'd been given a flag. He'd gotten the dog tags sent back. He'd spent months making deals with every deity that anyone had ever believed in. Blaine was gone.

There was a more insistent knock on the door, causing Kurt to open it.

One second he was staring at a bouquet of flowers held up to block the persons face, the next he was staring at-

_"Blaine!?"_ A grin spread across his face as he launched himself at his fiance. "But- how? They said-"

He felt Blaine pull him closer, burying his face in Kurt's neck before taking a shaky breath. "I promised you. I came home."

"_How? _I-" Kurt broke off with a sniffle. "You _died_. They gave me your tags. We had a _funeral_. How are you-?"

Blaine pulled back far enough so that they could rest their foreheads together. "I can tell you the whole thing later, but basically I lost my tags in an explosion, and the army declared me dead when I had really been captured by the enemy."

There was a soft thud as Blaine dropped the floors, instead lacing their hands together. "They told me you were _dead_," Kurt repeated dumbly, feeling like a broken record. "You're alive though- oh my god, Blaine you're alive." He pulled Blaine into a messy kiss before tugging him inside.

"So- you still want me in your life then?" Blaine asked, gripping Kurt's hand tightly as he kicked his dufflebag inside.

"Do I still-" Kurt scoffed. "Blaine, of course I still want you in my life. I have_always_ wanted you in my life. I have wanted nothing more since you left. You're never leaving me like that again."

"I can assure you, I have no plans to." Blaine pulled Kurt close again. "I have waited so long to be with you again."

Kurt's phone started loudly ringing across the room. "I should get that?" he said, a slight question in his voice.

"I don't know, you tell me," Blaine laughed - and _wow_ had Kurt missed that sound. "We've got all the time in the world now."

Kurt pulled out of the hug, but kept their hands link. "Come on."

"Actually," Blaine hedged, "do you mind if I go shower? I've kind of been traveling for 20 hours straight and I feel gross and the only reason my hair is anything decent is because I stopped in the bathroom real fast before I left the airport."

"Oh, sure," Kurt said, a bit reluctant to let Blaine out of his sights so soon after they had miraculously been reunited. "Just don't be too long?" he asked, finally letting go of Blaine's hand.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Blaine dropped a small kiss to Kurt's lips before heading across the apartment. "Answer the phone!" he called as he reached the bathroom.

"Oh, right." Kurt snatched his phone off the table and hit answer right before the call transferred to voicemail. "Hello?"

"Hey bud, did you forget that you were gonna call me ten minutes ago?" At the sound of his dad's voice, something broke in Kurt, and he sunk down onto his chair, crying quietly, so relieved that everything was somehow, miraculously, over.

"Kurt? What's wrong?" His dad asked worriedly when he heard Kurt's ragged breathing on the line. "I'm not upset with you. Do you need- should I send Rachel over there? I can fly out there-"

"Dad, dad," Kurt cut him off with a laugh. "I'm fine. I'm more than fine actually, I-"

"Kurt, I know that grief can be, really difficult, and if you need-"

"Dad!" Kurt exclaimed, a fond smile spreading across his face as a few tears continued to fall. "He came home."

"He-? What? Are you sure you're okay? It's no problem to dart up there from DC."

"Blaine. He came home. That's why I missed our call."

"Kurt…" Burt said worriedly. "Are you sure… I'm going to come visit you. I should be able to catch a train in the next two hours."

"Dad, I'm not- hallucinating or whatever. Here, hold on a minute." He stood up and walked over the the bathroom, knocking on the door before entering. "Hey Blaine?"

"Yeah?" Blaine asked, poking his head out around the curtain. "Did you want to join me," he waggled his eyebrows at Kurt suggestively.

"_Blaine_," Kurt huffed out fondly. He held up the phone. "My dad is worried that I've lost it. Can you say hi to him before he steals a private jet to get here?"

"Of course!" Blaine said cheerily, stepping out of the shower before wrapping a towel around himself and smiling a little smugly as Kurt looked him up and down. "I've missed him _almost _as much as I've missed you."

"Hey!" Kurt exclaimed indignantly. "You behave," he said, before handing the phone over.

"How are you Mr. Hummel?" There was a long silence, which, based on Blaine's sheepish grin, Kurt assumed was being filled with surprise, and then a lecture about never vanishing ever again.

"I promise that I won't leave the city again without Kurt by my side." There was another pause, during which Blaine leaned in to kiss Kurt. "I'll tell you all about it when you get here… yup… see you soon. I love you too."

Blaine hung up the phone and turned to Kurt, a little teary eyed, but looking very happy. "He'll be here in four hours."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Everyone's going to banging down our door soon. I bet he'll have called everyone we've ever met by the time he reaches the train." Kurt squeezed his hand. "Get dressed, and then I vote we order a pizza and then we'll eat it in our room, and catch each other up on things for a little while before telling them."

"Sounds perfect. Although I should probably call my parents and Cooper while you order the pizza."

"They don't know yet?!"

"I was so eager to get back and surprise you, that I kind of forgot to let them know. You're my family, you're my future, _you_ are the one I promised I was coming home."


	2. The Next Morning

Kurt woke up the next morning to a knock on the door. He sighed, keeping his eyes closed and trying to hold onto his dream for a little while longer. Blaine had come home and it'd felt so _real_, but it couldn't have been, Blaine was- his eyes flew open as heard a soft snuffle behind him.

He slowly turned his head to look next to him in disbelief, heart swooping when he saw that yes, that was Blaine Anderson sprawled out on his stomach next to him. He smiled, kissing Blaine's cheek, before sliding out of bed at the sound of another knock.

He paused, pulling on boxers and his robe before going to answer the door.

"Yes?" he asked, opening the door far enough so that he could see Rachel and Santana on the other side.

"You were supposed to meet us at brunch an hour ago," Rachel replied, arms crossed. "We've been worried. Why the hell didn't you answer our texts or phone calls?"

Normally, Kurt would have felt guilty about standing the two of them up, but he couldn't seem to find it in him because _Blaine was back_. "Sorry," he said, knowing he didn't sound too apologetic. "I forgot to set my alarm and-"

"Oh my god," Santana gasped, cutting him off. "Is that a hickey?" She pushed past Kurt and into the apartment. "Did you have an adult sleepover last night?" Rachel stepped in after her, staring at Kurt's neck curiously. "It's about damn time."

"Would you stop it?" Kurt laughed. "And can you keep your voices down?"

"He's still here?" Rachel asked loudly, trying to peer around his curtains from across the apartment.

"_Yes_, now will you two _lower your voices_ please? He's exhausted."

"Wanky. I didn't think you had it in you, Hummel," Santana said, looking him up and down.

"Oh shut up," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "It's too early for this. I need coffee."

Heading over to the coffeemaker, he missed the exchange of surprised looks behind him. Opening up a cabinet to grab a filter, he froze, realizing that the coffeemaker was no longer on the counter, and he didn't have any coffee mix. "Oh." He said quietly, before closing the cabinet and turning around. "I forgot that I got rid of it all."

The two girls looked at him for a moment before Rachel rushed over to him, Santana following behind more slowly.

"We can go out for coffee if you want- or not. We can- Do you want to leave before he wakes up?" she asked, throwing a glance over at the curtain behind which Blaine was somehow _still_ asleep.

"No, it's-" Kurt let out a gleeful laugh. "It's fine. Actually-" he glanced over at the curtain before making a decision. "Can you two just stay out here for a few minutes? I need to add coffee to the list, and my phones in there, and, yeah," he finished lamely.

The two of them exchanged a look again before nodding in agreement and settling down on the couch.

Kurt walked into his room, careful to keep the curtain from opening wide enough for them to see in. He paused, the curtain closed behind him, just taking in the sight of Blaine _home_ and _alive_ and _safe_, before leaping onto the bed.

Unfortunately all Blaine did was shift in his sleep, wrapping his arms around his pillow a little more tightly.

"Blaine," he whispered, kissing him on the lips.

No response.

"_Blaine_," he whispered again, conscious of Santana and Rachel on the other side of the definitely-not-soundproof curtain. When he didn't get a response, he poked Blaine in the side rather hard.

Blaine reacted (finally) by swatting at Kurt and rolling over. Kurt kissed him again, lingering a little bit longer, which seemed to finally do the trick because as he pulled away, Blaine blinked his eyes open.

"Good morning Sleepyhead," he whispered

Blaine grinned, leaning forward to kiss him once more, but merely managing to bump their heads together.

Kurt giggled, kissing him again before pulling away. "Put on some clothes, Rachel and Santana are here." Somehow, Blaine managed to look both excited and disappointed by this news.

"Do I still have clothes here?" he asked, voice rough with sleep.

"Yeah, there's some in the dresser. The rest is boxed up in storage." Blaine gave him a look that told Kurt what they both already knew – there were definitely some serious things that they were going to have to talk about in the near future, even if neither of them really wanted to. For now however, Blaine nodded and slid out of bed.

Kurt watched him rummage through the dresser for a moment before going to his "closet" and quickly throwing on an outfit. With one last look over at Blaine who was petting a pair of _Kurt's_ pants with a fond look on his face, he headed back out to the living room.

"Took you long enough," Santana said, when he sat down in one of the armchairs. "We were just trying to figure out whether you'd been gone long enough for us to start catcalling."

"_She_ was wondering. I was not. Because I am a good friend and wouldn't do that to you," Rachel amended.

Kurt smiled, unable to stop himself because he was just so _happy_.

"Okay, seriously Hummel." Santana said, peering at the curtain behind him. "Who is this guy, because I haven't seen you look this happy since before Blaine joined the marines."

"It was the army actually," Blaine chimed in, stepping into the room. There was dead silence as Blaine walked over to the chair Kurt was in and perched on the arm.

"What the hell is going on?" Santana finally managed to ask after a minute. "How is this- what the hell?"

Blaine kissed Kurt's forehead before looking back over at Santana.

"No," she said, standing up and shaking her finger at them. "You two do _not_ get to be all sappy and gross together until you explain what the fuck is going on."

"Yeah," came Rachel's unnaturally quiet voice from next to Santana. "Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly happy you're back," she added, glancing at Blaine. "I just don't understand. There was a funeral. _Over a year ago._"

"The army-" Blaine started, cutting off to glance back at Santana. "Could you sit back down? You're making me nervous."

Santana threw a glare at the two of them, but complied. "Okay. Spill. What's the deal? How long have you been back from the dead?"

Kurt winced at her words, but luckily, Blaine swooped in before he could throw something at her. She knew how much he hated any random reminder of Blaine being dead – the same still applied now, even though he was alive.

"I, um, I came back yesterday."

"You're a vampire?" Rachel gasped.

"What?" Blaine blinked in surprise as Kurt suppressed a laugh beside him. "No? No. I'm not-" he shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. "I was never dead! The army presumed that I was dead because they found my dog tags and they were near an explosion. I got captured."

"…And now you're back?" Santana asked. "For good? With no warning?"

"Yeah," Kurt tangled their fingers together as Blaine spoke. "I'm back for good. Army got me out two weeks ago. Spent the last week and a half recovering and going through exit stuff, and now I'm here to stay."

"So you've known for a while then?" Rachel asked, directing her attention to Kurt.

"No, I found out yesterday when he showed up out of nowhere." Kurt said, throwing an amused glare at Blaine.

The girls stared between them as if waiting for one of them to declare the whole thing a joke that went too far.

"I didn't want to have someone from the army calling to tell him," Blaine said, finally breaking the silence. "And by the time I was allowed to call, I kind of wanted to just, you know, show up and tell him myself."

Santana glanced between them for a moment, eyes lingering on the way the two of them could barely stop looking at each other, before standing up. "Okay, well, now that I know you are still a complete idiot," she said with a fond smile in Blaine's direction, "Rachel and I are going to go hit the bars."

"It's eleven am!" Rachel exclaimed.

Santana rolled her eyes, "I know." She looked back at Rachel, "As much as I hate to be the tactful and polite one here, we should probably give the two of them some more time to catch up before monopolizing their time any more than we already have."

Rachel sighed, but stood up reluctantly. "Can I have a hug?" she asked Blaine, holding her arms out to him.

Kurt watched as Blaine stood up, pulling Rachel into a hug. Once she pulled away, tears glistening in her eyes, she pulled Kurt into a hug. Blaine opened his arms to Santana next, "Come on, you can't deny me a hug after two years away."

Santana laughed wetly, before nodding and hugging him.

Kurt watched on, unable to stop smiling because Blaine was _home_ and other people could see him, so he was absolutely not making this up, and his life could go back to what it should have been. He'd been trying to let go of all of his past plans for the future – everything, even his own individual success in fashion or on Broadway, had been intertwined with the existence of Blaine. Now, with some mild rejiggering, he could keep all of his original dreams.

"Dinner tonight?" Rachel asked when they neared the door, snapping Kurt out of his thoughts. "We can invite everyone or it can just be us or-"

"Dinner sounds great," Kurt agreed. "We should probably tell the others about this before we invite them to that though, don't want to give them all heart attacks."

"Oh come on!" Santana groaned. "Can we at least not tell Evans? I've been biding my time for _years_ waiting to get revenge on him for dating Brits."

"Isn't he in Ohio?" Blaine asked.

"He moved out to LA to be with Mercedes not long after- well, not long after you were declared-" Kurt gestured with his hand, coughing in an attempt to not have to say 'dead' in relation to Blaine. "They're actually here for a few weeks. It's school vacation so Sam was able to get away, and Mercedes wanted to do some work." He wrapped an arm more tightly around Blaine at the slightly distressed look on his face at all that had changed while he'd been gone. "I'm actually surprised Cedes didn't call me yesterday, she had mentioned dinner…"

"Okay, it's decided!" Rachel declared. "I'll call the gang and tell them we're having a mandatory dinner-"

"What about-"

"I'll give you guys a few hours to call anyone you don't want to surprise at dinner."


	3. Sam and Mercedes

Kurt called Mercedes phone three times and Sam's twice before giving up. "Okay," he said, angrily tossing his phone onto an armchair. "They won't answer. Mercedes definitely doesn't have studio time today, so I'm pretty sure they're ignoring us."

"Should we just… can we just show up at where ever they're staying? Sam might accidentally kill someone if I show up at dinner unannounced."

Kurt snorted. "He's probably going to break you by mistake when he sees you anyways."

Blaine rolled his eyes, kissing Kurt's shoulder. "So… going over to their place? As much as I want to stay here for a few more weeks, just the two of us, I do miss the city and the people. And your dad took off a few days to see us."

Sighing good naturedly, Kurt stood up, reaching a hand out to Blaine. "We can do whatever your heart desires."

"Does that mean-" Blaine asked, a gleeful expression on his face, eyebrows raised.

"No." Kurt cut him off. "Not a chance." Blaine pouted, breaking Kurt's resistance just a little bit more. "Okay, okay, maybe. We can discuss your weird role-play ideas later. I thought you wanted to go find Sam?"

Nodding, Blaine pressed a quick kiss to Kurt's lips before skipping off to the bedroom to find more appropriate clothes to go out in.

"You go missing for two years, and you come back _still _asking for the same weird role-playing," Kurt called after him. "Sometimes I don't know how it took me so long to realize what an utter dork you are."

Under normal circumstances, Kurt would have opted for taking the subway to the apartment Mercedes' label had her staying at, but it was a nice day, and Kurt wanted Blaine to himself for a little while longer. Besides, he thought, Blaine had said he missed the city, and it would less than an hour to get there by foot.

At Blaine's urging, Kurt pushed the buzzer for Mercedes' apartment and didn't mention Blaine. Instead he told her and Sam that he had a surprise and needed to come up.

He and Blaine made it up the four flights of stairs in record time, hands clasped between them. When they reached the correct door, Blaine dropped his hand, moving to stand just out of sight of the door. Kurt wanted to drag him back, but the mischievous yet nervous look on Blaine's face melted his heart a little, and he decided to just go with it.

He knocked, and the door was quickly pulled open, revealing Mercedes dressed for a day of lounging around, and Sam lying on the couch.

"So," she said, jutting her hip out a little. "What's so exciting that it couldn't wait until dinner?" she grinned. "Did you call that guy?"

Kurt shook his head, trying not to laugh at the stricken look on his face. "Of course I didn't, even if I was up for dating, that guy was kind of a douche." He focused his attention behind her for a minute, "Sam, get over here!" Sam sighed loudly and began to stand up while Kurt redirected his attention to Mercedes. "Honestly I'm more than a little concerned about your judgement. I looked him up on facebook and aside from being a jackass, he sounds like an idiot."

Mercedes' opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Sam joining them. He wrapped an arm around her waist before speaking. "What's so important that I had to get off the couch?" He looked Kurt over quickly as though he would find the answer there, eye catching on his hand. "You're wearing your engagement ring again," he said, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

Mercedes looked him over with some concern.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably, he didn't know what Blaine's plan was for revealing that he was back, but if he didn't do it soon, Kurt was going to have to do it for him.

"Kurt? Are you okay?" Mercedes' asked quietly. "You seem happy but are you-"

Kurt caught Blaine's nod out of the corner of his eye and let out a breath. "I'm really really good actually. That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you guys about before the dinner happened. We figured we should tell you instead of letting you find out when you showed up."

"Okay..." Mercedes said slowly. "We? Kurt?"

Kurt reached over, grabbing Blaine's arm and pulling him into their line of sight. "We."

"Surprise?" Blaine said nervously as Sam stared at him in open-mouthed shock, and Mercedes phone clattered to the floor.

They both stood frozen for a minute before Sam reached out slowly, tentatively touching Blaine's arm. Before Kurt had registered that he was moving, Sam was flinging himself at Blaine, knocking him back a few steps as he did so.

"I am going to kill you!" Sam exclaimed, hugging Blaine tightly.

Kurt laughed, and glanced at Mercedes who understandably looked like she was seeing a ghost. "…When?"

"Yesterday," Kurt shrugged, unable to stop the smile that crossed his face. "He just showed up," he blinked rapidly, trying to stop himself from starting to cry.

"Oh honey," Mercedes said quietly opening her arms for him to fall into. "I am so happy for you."

She talked to him softly, while he tried to stop himself from crying.

There was a loud _bang_ and they broke apart.

"Ow."

Kurt turned around to see Sam and Blaine in a heap on the floor.

"Your knee is in my crotch," Blaine complained, lying spread-eagle on his back, Sam on top of him.

"I don't care dude, I really missed you."

Blaine patted Sam awkwardly, "Yes, but I'd rather your knee not be _right there_."

A door down the hall opened, the resident giving Sam and Blaine a weird look before moving to the stairs.

"Okay, come on you two," Mercedes said firmly. "We can continue this inside."

"Do we _have_ to?" Sam whined, moving to stand up as he did so.

Once Sam was out of the way, Kurt reached a hand out for Blaine to grab. "Come on sweetheart, let's get inside."


End file.
